![]() ![]() ![]() The research builds on calculations Lai and Wynn Ho, Ph.D. Lai is the author of "IXPE Detection of Polarized X-rays from Magnetars and Photon Mode Conversion at QED Vacuum Resonance," published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "QED is one of the most successful physics theories, but it had not been tested in such strong magnetic field conditions." ![]() "In this observation of radiation from a faraway celestial object, we see a beautiful effect that is a manifestation of intricate, fundamental physics," Lai said. '63, Professor of Astrophysics in the College of Arts and Sciences. '94, the Benson Jay Simon '59, MBA '62, and Mary Ellen Simon, M.A. The phenomenon can be naturally explained as a result of "photon metamorphosis"-a transformation of X-ray photons that has been theorized but never directly observed, said Dong Lai, Ph.D. The extremely dense and hot remnant of a massive star, boasting a magnetic field 100 trillion times stronger than Earth's, was expected to generate highly polarized X-rays, meaning that the radiation's electromagnetic field did not vibrate randomly but had a preferred direction.īut scientists were surprised when NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite last year detected that lower- and higher-energy X-rays were polarized differently, with electromagnetic fields oriented at right angles to each other. ![]()
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